Alia Bhatt's 'Jigra' is breaking prison, not box-office code

A still from Jigra

Alia Bhatt's Jigra has sparked a war of words between one of its producers Karan Johar, and actor-filmmaker Divya Khossla Kumar. On Saturday, Khossla took to social media to question the veracity of the film's earnings, which was reported to have opened at Rs 4.25 crore, making it Bhatt's lowest opener since Highway (2014). Posting a picture of an empty theatre, Khossla insinuated that Jigra's box-office figures were being inflated by the makers, possibly through bulk ticket purchases. Soon, Johar posted a cryptic message on social media - "Silence is the best speech you will ever give to fools" - that was viewed as a jab at her. This public spat is said to have its roots in Savi. In the May release, Khossla played a woman who breaks into a prison and frees her husband. With Jigra being a jailbreak thriller where Bhatt's character hatches a plan to save her brother, a section of the audience has drawn parallels between the two plots.

As Khossla continues to challenge the box-office numbers of Vasan Bala's directorial venture, which released alongside Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (VVKWWV), the one question on everyone's minds is: Are the figures fudged? A trade analyst, on the condition of anonymity, says, "No, the figures are low. Jigra opened in 2,800 screens, and VVKWWV in 3,500 screens. On day one, the average occupancy for both was 20 per cent. So, they earned Rs 4.25 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively. The reason why the films aren't working is because the storytelling is limited. VVKWWV isn't for the urban sectors, and Jigra is doing okay in multiplexes. Figures being fudged is a general problem; all big films do this. But this time, it isn't the case. Divya's theatre might not have had people, but many screens are witnessing [moderate] occupancy."

Divya Khossla Kumar and Karan Johar

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says Jigra and VVKWWV had come amid high expectations. "That's because Alia Bhatt is a bona fide star and Rajkummar was coming after Stree 2's success. Despite it being a holiday weekend, the collections aren't great. All eyes are on the Diwali releases already."

Jigra's two-day collections reportedly stand at Rs 11.13 crore and VVKWWV's at R12.77 crore. Trade expert Akshaye Rathi is surprised that the films didn't witness a jump over the weekend.

"Jigra deserved a wider viewership. But the first weekend is too early to gauge the fate of both movies," he states. Does the audience's tepid response indicate that it's story over stars for them? "The storytelling has to appeal to the widest possible audience. What separates Rajkummar's Stree 2 and Vicky Vidya are their telling. This happened with Ajay Devgn too. He had a [runaway hit in] Shaitaan and then [a flop in] Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha."